LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Even though he got pricked by a thorn while excavating, Kentucky School for the Blind 7th grader Wyatt Wilson enjoys digging up history.
“It got me pretty good, but it doesn’t matter,” says Wilson. “That’s a piece of a toy. You can see it right there. It’s purple.”
The toy Wilson dug up likely belonged to one of the Black Kentucky Schools for the Blind students who lived in a segregated schoolhouse on campus.
The schoolhouse opened in 1884.
When the schools were integrated in the 1950s, the schoolhouse was torn down and 70 years of history were erased.
“It’s a shame that it was just torn down, but you know, bringing it back up to the surface is really special,” says University of Louisville anthropology master’s student Shaylee Scott.
University of Louisville anthropology students are working with KSB students to uncover the historic schoolhouse.
UofL students are teaching the younger students archaeological field methods, like screening and excavating, to uncover the historic schoolhouse.
“We’re learning where the foundation actually was and the school. There’s not much information about the school in general, so kind of finding where it was situated on the land, and then also just the type of materials that we’re using for the schoolhouse,” says Scott.
The team has uncovered items like bricks, Coke bottles and glass that narrate the lives of the students who lived in the schoolhouse.
“100 years later, which is where we’re at now, we’re digging up and trying to unveil it,” says Wilson.
Wilson says it’s an honor to be part of the project.
“You usually don’t get to go outside and dig 100-year-old bricks and 100-year-old glass and stuff like this all day long,” says Wilson.
He is learning about his school history while making sure students who attended before him are never forgotten.
“I would think they would be proud and happy that we are unveiling this place and I think they would be happy that the world has changed from how colors had to be split apart,” says Wilson. “Right now, we’re still having trouble about that, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. I still think we still need to change.”
The team hopes to build a memorial to commemorate the students who lived and worked at the schoolhouse and put artifacts they find in a museum.
Wyatt says that’s a step in the right direction.
The community is invited to the Kentucky School for the Blind campus on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a Community Dig Day.
One of the last known students of the segregated schoolhouse will be in attendance.